We have been having a lot of conversations with Business Owners in the Denver area regarding Cyber Security Insurance recently. One thing that we have really been struck by is this perception that if you have Cyber Security Insurance that it is a Get Out of Jail Free card for your business. This it certainly is not. You need to be taking reasonable and appropriate measures to protect your business.

Should I Have A Cyber Security Insurance Policy for My Business?

Yes. This is absolutely a requirement in this day and age. However, any Business Owner that has filled out a Cyber Security Insurance policy will tell you the application is most certainly much more intensive than a standard insurance policy. If you go through that policy and just check the boxes you could be putting your business at risk.

As a Business Owner you should be putting these things into place BEFORE purchasing Cyber Security Insurance for your business.

1. Identify a Head of Security as it relates to I.T for your business. This person should have a direct line of communication to your executive team.

2. Training. You need to put a plan into place to provide your employees with ongoing Cyber Security Training. The biggest weakness in any organization is the people and they need your help to make good decisions in relations to Internet and Email use.

3. Network Auditing. There needs to be a formal plan in place to regularly test and audit the security of your Network.

4. System Policies. There needs to be policies in place to ensure that security patches are being applied to every single device across your Network.

5. Disaster Recovery Plan. There needs to be a formalized Disaster Recovery Plan in place for the company.

6. Written Security Policies. There needs to be a policy in place regarding general security policies such as password management.

7. Mobile Device Management. There needs to be a formalized policy in relation to Mobile Devices.

Why Is This Important?

If you purchase a Cyber Security Insurance Policy but are not taking reasonable and and appropriate measure that may be deemed as the Insurance company and negligent or worse case scenario fraudulent.

If you have a Cyber Security Insurance Policy in the Denver area but are not sure if you are in compliance or are in the process of looking into obtaining coverage give us a call at Code Blue Computing we can help you make sure you get all the pieces in place to best protect your business.

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Cyber Attacks are on the rise in Denver. Hackers can use very sophisticated methods to try and gain access to your network. Conversely, if they can gain access easily even better.

This is a very simple way for a hacker to gain access to your network and remarkably effective. How exactly does a Cyber Attack with Thumb Drives work?

The Hacker will scatter USB Thumb Drives throughout the parking lot of a business or a business park

Wait for an unsuspecting employee to pick it up and bring it in to the building

Once the employee inserts the device into their computer behind the scenes a program is launched to infiltrate the computer network

As business owners we need to be proactive in protecting our businesses from Cyber Attacks. The fact of the matter not all of our employees or even as many as we would like to believe are tech savvy. Finding it out after an attack is a very expensive lesson to learn.

What Should You Do as a Business Owner?

Provide ongoing Cyber Security training for your staff.

Make sure that everyone know never to put a Thumb Drive of unknown origin into their computer

Get a Cyber Security Audit so that you can plug these types of holes before an attack not after.

As business owners Cyber Security needs to be near the top of our business concerns. I am going to repeat that not near the top of tech or I.T. concerns but near the top of business concerns. A breach can and will close your business.

As business owners what are we doing that might be a little ridiculous?

Do you think it won’t happen to you?

This is a big one. Time after time business owners tell me it won’t happen to me I am too small for hackers or cyber criminals to care about. This is simply not true and this attitude is going to get you in trouble. To keep yourself from being attacked you need to be on point with security measures for your and for your employees.

Do you have Cyber Security training?

All businesses should be having Cyber Security training multiple times per year with their staff. Not just sign this memo training but real simulated read world examples. You have to help your staff develop the critical thinking skill that will enable them to spot a hoax before not after it occurs.

Do you have expired anti-virus?

We are running into businesses that have no anti-virus or expired anti virus on the machines in their business. This is the bare minimum you need to be doing as a business owner. Every single computer and server in your business needs anti-virus running on it. This means installed and scans and patches running daily. Do not stop the security from doing what it needs to do.

Cyber Attacks and Cyber Threats are on the rise. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to make sure you bring in the right team to protect your business from these threats.

If you would like to request a Cyber Security Evaluation for your business just fill out the form below:

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So, Facebook went a little crazy over the weekend with all of the messages and posts flying about “My account has been hacked” or “All accounts are being cloned.” Personally, I received so many messages it was insane. I have seen different variations of these Facebook Messenger messages over the last few years but the rate they were flying this weekend was astounding.

The is a security feature within Facebook that we all should have activated now with the current environment. It is double factor authentication. What is double factor authentication? It is exactly what the name implies in addition to your password there is a second code or action to be taken when someone tries to access your account from a different device. How exactly do you activate double factor authentication?

Click on the down arrow in the upper home page screen of your Facebook home page

Click on Settings

Click on Security

Click on Double Factor Authentication

Follow the instructions to activate Double Factor Authentication

Now when someone who is or is not you tries to access Facebook from a different location or device there will additional steps needed in addition to your password. So the next time the messenger messages start to fly you can remain calm.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this topic contact us below. We are here to help!

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We thought we had seen everything and then a new twist on ransomware emerged in our office last week. Cyber Criminals are emailing people with a message similar to this one:

(password) is your pass. Lets get directly to point. You do not know me and you’re most likely wondering why you’re getting this e mail? Absolutely no one has compensated me to investigate you.

Let me tell you, I setup a malware on the xxx streaming (porn material) site and guess what, you visited this site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were viewing videos, your web browser started out operating as a Remote control Desktop with a key logger which gave me accessibility to your display screen and webcam. Immediately after that, my software obtained all your contacts from your Messenger, social networks, as well as email . Next I created a video. First part displays the video you were watching (you have a nice taste ; )), and next part displays the recording of your web camera, and its you.

You have got a pair of alternatives. Let us understand each one of these solutions in particulars:

Very first solution is to disregard this e-mail. In this situation, I most certainly will send your actual recorded material to every bit of your personal contacts and just imagine about the shame you will see. Furthermore in case you are in a romance, just how it would affect?

Next option will be to give me $7000. I will describe it as a donation. Subsequently, I most certainly will straight away delete your videotape. You can continue on everyday life like this never took place and you would never hear back again from me.

You will make the payment via Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search for “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).

Should you are thinking about going to the cop, good, this email cannot be traced back to me. I have covered my steps. I am not trying to ask you for a lot, I simply want to be paid for. You have one day to make the payment. I’ve a specific pixel in this e mail, and at this moment I know that you have read through this mail. If I do not get the BitCoins, I will, no doubt send out your video to all of your contacts including close relatives, coworkers, and so forth. However, if I receive the payment, I’ll erase the video immediately. This is the non:negotiable offer so please do not waste my personal time and yours by responding to this e mail. If you really want proof, reply Yeah! and I will send your video recording to your 11 friends.

I thought we had seen everything we just had not. So what is happening here? There have been some major data breaches throughout the country over the last few years. Passwords and emails have been compromised and are available for download to Cyber Criminals. They are relying on just enough information to scare users into paying the ransom.

This is a new level of phishing scam we have not seen before. At its core, it is phishing though. Change your passwords, absolutely. Do not pay the ransom is a scam. If you have any questions or want to be sure that your computers have not been compromised you can always give us a call.

We have been getting some calls in our office from clients that have Yahoo as their email provider that were no longer receiving emails on their iPhone or iPad Apple Email App. The issue appears to have begun right around the first of the year. We have not been able to identify is this is an Apple issue or a Yahoo issue but it most definitely is an issue that has been going on for quite some time.

The interesting thing about this glitch is it seems to be occurring fairly sporadically and not to everyone or all devices. For example, we had a client with iOS 11.4 on both her iPhone and iPad. She suddenly stopped receiving emails from her Yahoo mail account on her iPhone but was still receiving them on her iPad. Some of our clients stopped receiving email on the iPad as opposed to the iPhone. Other clients stopped receiving Yahoo emails on both their iPad and their iPhone.

At this point in time, there does not appear to be a fix for this particular issue. One of our clients ended up on the phone with Apple support for over an our over the past weekend and they did not appear to be aware there was an issue with Yahoo Email and the Apple Email App. They had her delete and re-add the application but that did not solve the issue.

Until Apple release a fix for this issue we are left trying to find the best workarounds that we can. If you have an iPhone or an iPad that you stop receiving your Yahoo emails on you have options. The most user friendly and easiest to manage solution that we have implemented for our clients is to start utilizing Gmail instead of the Apple Email App on your iPhone or your iPad.

Microsoft releases two major updates for Windows 10 a year. There is a Fall Creators update and a Spring Creators update. When these updates come out we start to get a ton of phones calls into our office from folks that feel like the Windows 10 update broke their computer. What does that look like exactly? Well it can be a host of things from being stuck in those endless circles (if you’ve ever experienced this you know), a blue screen or death, or a host of very ominous error messages.

The thing that a lot of people don’t realize when these two updates come through these are major operating system updates. They are the equivalent of upgrading from one operating system to another, the same as going from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for example. Another thing that many people don’t realize is that you are not able to disable updates from running. They are going to eventually run whether you want them to or not. This is actually a good thing. Keeping your system updated is the best thing that you can do security wise.

Windows 10 upgrades have and can wreck some serious havoc in your technical life. We have seen start menus stop working, anti virus issues, and boot issues to name a few. The truth is that in the vast majority of cases a Windows 10 update issue could have been fairly easily avoided with a little computer maintenance.

For Windows 10 to load seamlessly onto your computer you need to be sure of the following:

All of your software and hardware drivers for your computer need to be up to date

All of the software that you use needs to be updated with all security patches applied

Your computer needs to be clean as a whistle, no viruses lurking in the background

Your hard drive needs to be healthy with no imminent issues

All the previous “mini” Windows 10 updates need to have been applied

If any of these issues exist and your Windows 10 Spring Creators update will fail and many times fail in a big way. What should have been a simple update turns into a most costly repair of a complete Windows 10 Operating System reload.

There are a few things that you can do to try and avoid a problem in the future.

Bring your computer into a local, reputable computer shop for a PC Tuneup twice a year. A good shop with do a thorough diagnostic, virus removal, security update check and will get any of the typical issues that cause Windows 10 Updates to fail resolved for you.

When you know that a big Windows 10 update is coming (hint that will be every fall around September and every spring around April) get your computer checked out.

Get on a maintenance plan with your local repair shop like Code Blue Computing. A good shop doesn’t like to see a huge repair bill for your computer anymore than you do. If you can get on a plan where they are proactively monitoring the health of your computer, security patches, viruses, etc. you don’t have to bring the computer in and Windows 10 Updates will be more likely to install without a hitch.

The Windows 10 Spring Creators Update is just a reminder to take care of our computers. They do need to be maintained periodically to perform the way they were designed to perform.

It always seems to happen at the most inopportune moment. You have a deadline to meet, you put your tunes on, get in the zone, and sit down to get some work done. Your laptop won’t turn on. Seriously? You press the power button again… Nothing. Your heart races, your start to sweat, start to pace around the room, maybe even utter a few choice words you wouldn’t want your kids to repeat. It doesn’t matter at this moment if your laptop is a Dell, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, or even an Apple.

You are dead in the water.

The first thing that runs through our head when our laptop won’t turn on is that you may be headed into a big repair bill, or an even bigger bill for a new computer. What if your motherboard is fried? Not so fast, all may not be lost.

What To Do If Your Laptop Won’t Turn On

First of all, make sure you have tried to plug your computer in to the outlet. Sounds silly, but we have had folks bring their computer in and the battery has just run down.

Disconnect any equipment or peripherals you have connected to the laptop to make sure that the issue doesn’t lie there. This means any USB device, printers, your mouse, etc.

Unplug your AC adapter from your computer

Remove the laptop battery from your laptop computer

Hold the power button down on your computer for 15-30 seconds

Plug the AC adapter back into the laptop computer without replacing the battery

Press the power button on your computer

Hopefully your laptop now powers up and you are off to the races!

If your laptop still won’t turn on it is time to call a reputable local computer repair shop in your area. If you don’t have a repair shop that you have used in the past ask friends for recommendations, check their reviews online, check the experience level of the technicians that will be working on your computer, and make sure you use an experienced shop with an established physical location. There are a lot of scammers that post ads, will come and pick up your equipment and never return it. Be wary! Even though your computer feels like a paperweight at this point you precious data is still on that hard drive.

Your local computer repair shop will be able to run full diagnostics on the laptop to determine specifically why it won’t start. If your computer is still under warranty make sure you contact the manufacturer. You will most likely have to return the computer to them to have the warranty work completed at no cost to you. If the computer is out of warranty, your local computer repair shop can complete the repair work for you in house.

Even if you think the repair work will be too expensive it is still a good idea to take your computer into the shop. First of all, the repair may be much less costly than your are envisioning. Secondly, even when your laptop won’t start your data still resides on that computer. You can have the technician pull the data off of your computer and do a secure data wipe for you to ensure that you can dispose of the computer safely if that is what you decide to do.

Broomfield FISH in conjunction with the USPS hold the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive every May. Grocery bags were delivered to every residence in Broomfield in May. They could fill the bags with non-perishable items and leave them out by their mail box on Saturday, May 12th. The USPS collected those donations and brought them to Broomfield Fish on that day. They were able to collect over 31,000 lbs of food. Amazing!

Code Blue Computing was the bag sponsor for the event this year. “As a family owned business we love being part of the Broomfield community and always looking for ways that we can support the amazing work they are doing at Broomfield FISH.” In Broomfield the long tradition of Neighbors Help Neighbors lives on in the volunteers and donations that are received everyday at Broomfield FISH.

If you weren’t able to participate and still want to help they still need the following items:

Most small business owners have little to no security measures in place to protect their business against a Cyber Attack. As someone who talks with business owners every single day I will tell you most trend towards the none versus the little.

cy-ber-at-tack

an attack by hackers to a computer network or system

As a business owner the time where you could ignore Computer and Network Security when it comes to your business are over. In 2017, Cyber Attacks against U.S. Businesses doubled. Yes. Doubled. That only accounts for reported attacks most Cyber Attack incidents are not even reported. The most important thing to know here is 93% of all attacks could be prevented with putting simple security measures in place and proper training of employees.

How To Protect Your Business from a Cyber Attack

Security Patches. Patch Management is imperative for protecting your business. Making sure every single device in your organization has an updated operating system and security patches. Believe it or not, there are businesses with computers that have Windows XP computers in their business there are NO security patches for unsupported operating systems. Others, simply do not have their system patches up to date. If you have one device that is not up to date with security patches your business is at rick for a Cyber Attack.

Firewall and Passwords. A firewall is not optional it is required. Period. With so many remote workers needing to access company files your must have a firewall to keep your network safe from hackers while allowing your remote workers in. A firewall will limit backdoor access to your network to those looking to cause harm to your business. Setup your organization to require strong passwords and more importantly require frequent changing of those passwords. Also, making sure that passwords are not being reused across multiple applications.

Employee Training. We simply cannot assume that all users within the company are savvy enough to know what to and what not to do. This is not industry specific don’t assume because your employees are highly educated that this means they are tech savvy. Have quarterly training with all users about not opening emails attachments and links that are suspicious, email phishing, and good cyber attack practices. For example, in the past week we have received no less than 10 faux emails from Microsoft that look pretty legit. When we hover over the link or look at the email address it is blatantly obvious to be malicious.

Encryption. You must encrypt data. Period. If your business is the victim or an attack or a mobile worker loses a laptop you can rest easy that the data is not accessible to the hackers. There are tons of system wide, or file specific tools to encrypt your data. If you have a business and are not encrypting data you are at risk.

Backups. This will be the one thing that will be most indicative of whether your business will be able to recover from a Cyber Attack or close your doors. You must have daily backups for your business. Ideally, those backups will be housed offsite. It should be noted that an External Hard Drive that is connected to your computer or server 24/7 does not count. Why? Because if your network is breached a virus will deploy immediately and will go straight to that external as well. Worst case scenario if you have a breach but have current backups your I.T. Team will be able to get you back in business quickly.

Business owners are a risk whether your organization is large or small. The good news is that the vast majority of attacks that are happening can be easily prevented. Hackers know that most companies have a pretty large hole in Computer and Network Security and are spending their time and energy on those vulnerabilities that already exist as opposed to brute force attacks on your network.

In this day and age managing your own computer network and security is neither a good idea or nor easily done. Most small businesses do not have an in house I.T. Department and if they do they are many times backlogged in projects throughout the organization. Generally, it is a good idea to utilize the service of an outsourced I.T. organization to look at your risk for a Cyber Attack.

Why? It is good to have someone with an unbiased view audit your current network, systems, and Cyber Security policies take a look at your potential vulnerabilities and help you craft a plan. Those organizations that actually have systems, training, and an actual plan in place are the ones that will recover from a Cyber attack.